No where is there a name given to any of the persons mentioned in the parables -- but only identifications as the prodigal young man, etc. rich man ...

Lazarus seems to be the exception.. and the rich man who ignored Lazarus' needs. Here there is a mention of possible destination to a place of punishment... the only direct indication of possible perdition on an long term or everlasting scale.

Judas did what he did -- but the story does not end here, but if it were to continue we would find that he would be judged by God.. it must not be for us to know for some reason...

We must learn to live as God would like for us.. and avoid thse not-to-be-dones..e.g. suicide and hatred of our brother (male and female).

It is not for us to live for ourselvesut for God..

viking

Somewhere in previous typing, the new testament is inferred as to locations of parables...

There are parables in the Old Testament too; one of the best-known is the one Nathan told to King David after the king's adultery with Bath-sheba. Yet Jesus is known as the Master Storyteller (in addition to all His other attributes). I have never heard any but the most literal-minded Christian scholars suggest that each parable told something that actually happened; rather, I have heard that, just as today, fictional storytelling was a perfectly acceptable way to make a point.

Parables were stories used like we would use analogies. Many think Jesus could not use stories as it may imply that he was lying. Stories are good to use since it makes people think, people like stories better than analogies and it goes further than analogies. Which gets passed down easier? Stories or analogies?

It may refer to many instances that may have happened, I'm sure there are many examples. Solomon said there is nothing new under the sun, but at the same time, you don't have to know the person or tell the story exactly to make a point that needed to be given.

If we say "Once upon a time, there was a girl named Goldilocks and she met three bears" are we lying? Or just telling a story that hopefully relates to a point?

I would ask these Christians who are trying to justify Jesus' way of teaching us so it won't look like he was lying, why they tell their children there is a Santa Clause and Easter Bunny!

Once these kids find out there is no such characters, they will want to look into this "Jesus" thing too. So it won't matter if Jesus' was telling true stories or parables, they assume he is no more than Santa Clause and the Easter bunny anyway.

We don't need to justify or explain Jesus. We just need to listen to the lessons and learn from them.

Today, we have too short of an attention span and don't like to sit around to listen to stories. So we just "get to the point" by making shortcuts. So we use analogies. Not as affective, but hurries things along so we can get back to listening to mindless stories on TV.

Boyd

We are too fast.. but we pay the price...

Poor tooth fairy got left out on this one..